Sustainability on the label: how important is it today?

Until a few years ago, when standing in front of a store shelf, the key factors in choosing a product were primarily price, quality, and brand recognition. Today, another factor has been added to these: sustainability.

According to PwC’s 2024 Voice of the Consumer Survey, conducted among more than 20,000 consumers in 31 countries, 80% of respondents say they are willing to pay more for products that are sustainably produced or sourced, with an average stated premium of 9.7%. Additionally, 46% say they buy more sustainable products with the goal of reducing their environmental impact. Among the factors considered are production methods and recycling (for 40% of respondents), eco-friendly packaging (for 38%), and the impact on nature and water conservation (for 34%).

These figures point to a clear trend: knowing how the products we buy are made is becoming an integral part of the value we place on them.

This focus is particularly evident in the food sector. And wine is no exception.

Sustainability and wine: whare are the consumers looking for?

Italian data clearly illustrate this shift. According to the 2026 survey conducted by Nomisma Wine Monitor for Valoritalia, sustainability ranks among the criteria considered most important by 7 out of 10 consumers when choosing food products. When it comes specifically to wine, 27% of consumers check the label for an organic or sustainability logo, while 12% say they have already purchased a wine with a sustainability certification logo at least once. Furthermore, nearly one in two consumers has heard of sustainability certifications.

What’s interesting is not just the awareness of these certifications, but what they represent in the eyes of shoppers. The same study shows that a certified sustainable wine is primarily associated with respect for the ecosystem, attention to the local area and community, and transparency in oversight.

Sustainability, therefore, is no longer viewed solely as a synonym for a lower environmental impact. Ideally, a single bottle also encompasses biodiversity conservation, resource management, working conditions, relationships with local communities, and the ability to preserve a region over time.

How much are we willing to pay for a sustainable wine?

An analysis published in 2025 in the journal Food Quality and Preference, based on 146 estimates from various studies, calculated that consumers are willing to pay, on average, 15% more for a wine with sustainable characteristics. This willingness to pay is higher when these characteristics are backed by certification—particularly in the case of organic certification—and is even higher among regular wine consumers.

An Italian study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, conducted on 528 consumers, also highlighted a very high level of interest in certified sustainable wines: 88% of the sample stated they were interested in purchasing them. Among those willing to pay a premium, 38% indicated a price ranging from 1.01 to 3 euros per bottle.

These figures indicate that sustainability has become a factor capable of adding value, especially when consumers are able to understand its concrete significance.

The label becomes a storytelling tool

In this context, the role of the label changes, at least in part: it not only conveys information such as the wine’s name, producer, grape variety, vintage, region, and alcohol content, but also provides insights into how that wine was produced.

Consumer interest in these issues is growing, but the connection between sustainability and purchasing decisions is not always immediately apparent. Certifications can help make a winery’s practices more recognizable, but they risk being difficult to understand if not accompanied by clear information. For this reason, in the wine industry, it is not enough to simply claim to be sustainable: it is important to explain, in a simple and verifiable way, what measures are being taken in the vineyard, in the winery, and throughout the supply chain.

A logo can, in fact, encapsulate a much more complex process, which may include reducing water and energy consumption, responsible vineyard management, protecting biodiversity, reducing the carbon footprint, using lighter packaging, caring for workers, and generating positive impacts on the local community.

Certifications and greenwashing: the issue of trust

However, as sustainability becomes more important in purchasing decisions, the need to distinguish between genuine commitments and mere statements also grows.

The European Commission found that 53% of the green claims analyzed in the European Union contain vague, misleading, or unfounded information, while 40% lack evidence to support their claims. Furthermore, there are approximately 230 different sustainability labels in Europe, with widely varying levels of transparency and verification.

It is therefore not surprising that consumers have become more discerning. According to the European Commission’s Consumer Conditions Scoreboard, 56% of European citizens consider environmental claims on products to be reliable, while 39% express skepticism. In Italy, the percentage of those who consider them reliable rises to 61%.

For wine, this means that terms such as “green,” “eco-friendly,” or “environmentally friendly,” if used without verifiable information, risk quickly losing their effectiveness. A recognizable certification subject to independent audits, on the other hand, can transform the label into a guarantee.

It is no coincidence that the most recent research on willingness to pay for sustainable wines highlights precisely how certifications carry more weight than simple sustainability claims.

What does “sustainable wine” really mean?

One of the most common misconceptions is to automatically equate sustainability with organic. The two concepts can overlap, but they are not synonymous.

Organic primarily refers to a regulated production method. Sustainability, when applied to the wine production chain, has a broader meaning and generally encompasses three dimensions: environmental, social, and economic.

Being sustainable can therefore mean working to reduce water and energy use, preserve soil fertility and biodiversity, make bottles lighter, and optimize transportation and packaging. But it also means protecting the people who work at the winery, keeping the local economy vibrant, and building a business capable of enduring over time.

In this sense, even the label can help move beyond the idea of sustainability reduced to a mere environmental statement and instead convey a more complex production model.

Sustainability according to Proposta Vini

For Proposta Vini, the concept of sustainability is linked to a vision of wine that begins, first and foremost, with the protection of the land and its identity. For this Trentino-based company, Italy’s winemaking heritage is a treasure trove of biodiversity, built up over millennia, and its selection process aims to highlight wineries that operate in accordance with tradition and the unique characteristics of their regions.

This vision holds that sustainability is not limited to the practices adopted in the vineyard or winery, but also encompasses the preservation of viticultural biodiversity, the landscape, and local cultures. If every bottle tells the story of a region, its grape varieties, and the people who produced it, choosing which wines to bring to market also means contributing to the continuity of that heritage. This has been the focus of Proposta Vini’s work for over forty years: seeking out and showcasing producers, grape varieties, and regions capable of preserving an authentic identity, far removed from the logic of standardization.